“At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues in the room?”

Texas State Senator Leticia Van De Putte never got her answer last night, at the end of the filibuster started by Senator Wendy Davis in protest over restrictions that would make it even harder for women in Texas to get legal, safe abortions.  Instead, the crowd erupted into cheers, which lasted well after midnight, well after the session ended, and well into the night as protests continued to rise over misinformation that said that SB5 had passed.  This morning, we’re learning that the bill failed – whatever lame reason the Lt. Governor is giving notwithstanding, we live to fight another day.

But before we more on to equality and climate change and all the other ridiculous problems we need to solve, I want to answer the Senator’s question:

Stand now.

Stand up today, and don’t sit down until we have equality between genders.
Raise your hand immediately and don’t put it down until you’re satisfied that women’s lives won’t be the subject of petty political bickering.
Shout your opinion until you’re hoarse and you’re being taken away in handcuffs just for asking that women get to have rule over their own bodies.  Then, shout it again from your jail cell until your sisters come to bail you out.
Stand in long lines to vote, stand on street corners to collect signatures for your own political run, stand arm in arm as they try to carry us away and deny us our right to protest.

One of my colleagues hit it home when she said “I wish I could imagine a world in which a bunch of women stand around desperately trying to legislate control over a man’s body, but I honestly can’t.”  I’m done being a second class citizen, done with having someone make my decisions for me, done with this patriarchal bullshit.  We can do better.

Please join me in supporting EMILY’s List to put more pro-choice women in office – and stand now, tonight, and tomorrow toward the equal future we all know is possible.